System for marketing goods and services utilizing computerized central and remote facilities

ABSTRACT

A system for shopping for goods and services includes central communications facilities and remote communications facilities connected by communications links and means permitting data communications between them. Central communications facilities offer goods and services in competition with each other. Each central communications facility stores, in addition to data, graphics in the form of video, and audio in the form of computerized voice and music. Computer input devices at each remote communications facility permit customers to access the data, graphics and audio. Computers at each remote communications facility also enable that facility to receive and download the data, graphics, and audio. Each remote communications facility is adapted to enable a customer, after viewing the data, graphics, and audio, to electronically negotiate a price for the purchase of the goods and services. Each central communications facility can generate and transmit to the remote facility transaction specific paperwork relative to the price so negotiated.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/504,374, filed Feb. 15, 2000, to be issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,379,900on May 27, 2008 and claims priority to it. Ser. No. 09/504,374 was adivision of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/668,561, filed Jun. 21, 1996,issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,055,514 on Apr. 25, 2000, which was acontinuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/268,309, filed Jun. 29,1994 now abandoned, which was a continuation-in-part of application Ser.No. 08/264,184, filed Jun. 22, 1994 now abandoned, which was in turn wasa continuation of application Ser. No. 08/051,743, filed Apr. 22, 1993now abandoned. Application Ser. No. 08/051,743 was itself acontinuation-in-part of Ser. No. 07/855,099, filed Mar. 20, 1992 nowabandoned. The application herein is copending with Ser. No. 08/650,834,filed May 20, 1996, and with Ser. No. 11/894,000, filed Aug. 17, 2007which was a division of Ser. No. 10/217,643, filed Aug. 14, 2002. Eachof these applications is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a system and means forestablishing a communicating link between remote facilities. Moreparticularly, the invention is concerned with a system and means forfacilitating transactions between central and remote facilitiesutilizing electronic communications devices and computing equipment forconcurrently or nonconcurrently transmitting voice, music, audio, data,images, video, and optic information on goods and services, and/orsignals. Such systems will be used to market, sell, finance, and insuregoods and/or services.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Over the years the marketing of certain financial services and ingeneral of all goods and services to retail customers, such as autofinancing to car purchasers at car dealerships, has increasingly beenhindered by problems experienced by the companies providing thefinancial services. In fact these difficulties extend to all providersof goods and services in reaching their customers. The more serious ofthese problems are high administrative costs, long delays in creatingand implementing new financial service products, and complex methodswhich confound and confuse retail sales locations and their customers.

The traditional approach in marketing financial service products hasbeen to offer them at retail sales locations by employees of the retailbusinesses acting as agents of the financial services companies. One ofthe consequences of this traditional approach is that each retail salesbusiness is required to have the necessary means for calculating orcomputing and quoting rather complicated matters, such as payments andpremiums, and to be responsible for maintaining computer hardware andsoftware systems independently of and in addition to that at thefinancial service companies. All too frequently these requirementsresult in contracts written with wrong amounts and/or terms which latercreate embarrassment and confusion for the retail sales business whenthose contracts have to be amended, endorsed, or worse yet completelyrejected.

Another consequence of this traditional approach is that in acting asagents of the financial services companies, the employees of the retailsales businesses are often required to be licensed in their state to doso. High turnover rate of these employees can pose a serious problem forthese businesses as personnel with such skills are not easy to find.Furthermore, there are considerable costs for the retail salesbusinesses in maintaining separately these in-house systems or replacingthem to keep pace with changing products and regulations.

An ideal system for providing these financial services is one whichovercomes the above-described problems of the traditional approach. Suchideal system will employ the qualified agents or representativesavailable at the financial services company and its centrally locatedcomputer hardware, software, and product information and therebyeliminate the necessity for employees of the local retail sales businessto qualify to act as agents of the financial services company.Elimination of local agents will reduce the incidence of contractscontaining errors and save the cost of training such employees. Also,such ideal system will utilize the hardware and software existing at thecentral financial services company comprising all desirable productinformation and thereby eliminate the necessity to purchase and maintainat each remote location the hardware and software necessary to processand support the activities of such otherwise remotely located employeeagents. Further, such ideal system will employ the expertise of agentsat the financial services company and generate the appropriate financialservices documents tailored to the particular customer and therebyeliminate the necessity to obtain and maintain the instructional manualsand application forms necessary for carrying out of these activities ateach remote location.

The prior patent art reveals two remote transaction systems whose statedobjective is to reduce overhead expenses. These remote transactionsystems should be considered as possible candidates for offeringsolutions to the aforementioned problems experienced with thetraditional approach of providing financial services.

One such system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,571 to D'Agostinoprovides a method of offering financial service products to customers atremote locations by way of representatives at a central location.Accordingly product information is displayed at the customer's terminalas the customer and representative converse.

However, the D'Agostino method requires that the information to bedisplayed the customer be stored in the computer at the remote facilityunlike the preferred embodiment of the present invention where theinformation is centralized or stored centrally and thereaftertransmitted to the customer at the remote location, making it difficultto correct or modify the information thus shown to customers.

Also in storing the information to be displayed to each customerremotely each representative will be required to be licensed to sellsuch products in each state he might assist a customer and thereforesignificantly increase the number of required representatives otherwisenecessary. In this manner the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention where such information about goods and services is stored atthe central facility can reduce the licensing requirements of therepresentatives and thus the number of representatives required.

Further D'Agostino relies upon static or still motion images of therepresentative as displayed to the customer and stored remotely causinga constant need for changes of that information created by turnover ofrepresentative staff, unlike the present invention which can store suchinformation centrally or as in another embodiment permit 2way fullmotion color video images or video conferencing thus eliminating theneed of storing any such image, remotely or centrally. In relying uponstill motion images of his representatives he has most of all greatlylimited the effectiveness of his system as a selling tool as recently2way full motion video has been proven to greatly and unexpectedlyincrease product sales offered through such systems or methods such asdescribed in the March 1993 issue of The Banker on page 61. Nor has hismethod provided the customer an input means thereby chaining thecustomer to the representative thus giving him no freedom in reviewingproduct information on his own without the help of the representative asthe customer can with the present invention. He has to the contrarydemonstrably taught against the use of the keyboard as a means of inputby the customer at the remote facility and has not provided for anyfurther means of customer input.

Also in not permitting the storing of product information other thanremotely he has created a captive situation for remote users permittingthem to only use the goods and services of a single provider whereas thepresent invention will with central storage permit each remote facilityor location to communicate with an array of central facilities, sort ofa public telephone. Thus at best, the D'Agostino method leads to lessthan an optimum solution to the problems noted heretofore with thetraditional approach to marketing financial service products and allother goods and services.

Previous art in the field limited use of a given customer facility to asingle provider. In the present invention it is contemplated thatcustomers can use the remote facility devices to contact multipleproviders of goods and services. There are 2 advantages to this aspect.The first is that in permitting remote locations to communicate withmultiple central facilities, providers are able to share the costs ofthe remote facility equipment. Previously the cost of the equipment atthe remote location was prohibitive so that the system's use wasimpractical for all but a few select applications.

The second advantage is the greater number and selection of goods andservices available to customers. Since providers will be able to sharethe cost of the remote equipment more providers will be encouraged toparticipate and an even greater variety of products will be offered. Thedifference between the present invention and the prior art therefore iscomparable to a grocery store with only one brand of soft drink asopposed to an aisle with an assortment of beverages. The reduction ofexpense for each provider will thereby encourage providers to use thesesystems as a low cost means of providing for the marketing and sales oftheir products to the public. These savings can in turn be passed alongto their customers. Multiple companies can then share the expense of theequipment at the remote location. This method also as above improves thecompetition for the products offered at the remote location, breakingthe monopolistic model of the previous art.

Another remote transaction system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,636to Walker provides a transaction booth located remotely from anoperations center for facilitating a transaction such as the renting ofan automobile. The booth and center were connected by audio and videoequipment used for transmitting audio and video signals from thecustomer in the booth to the agent at the operations center in order tonegotiate a transaction. The customer in this instance knew what hewanted. He was not shopping, but merely seeking to effect apredetermined transaction.

However, the Walker remote transaction system has no means for producinga financial services document or contract at the booth tailored to thespecific needs of the customer, nor does it utilize 2way full motionvideo thereby severely limiting its applications and efficacy by notproviding the remote user full motion images such as of the agent or ofwhat might be described as full motion commercials. The presentinvention furthermore represents a new use as Walker did not anticipatethe sale of financing and insurance by any such system nor could he haveused his for such. Walker as well fails to provide the user at theremote facility a means of input and as a result as with D'Agostinochains the customer to the representative.

Neither does Walker permit each remote facility to communicate with avariety of central facilities thus restricting the variety andcompetition for goods and services there offered and has thereforhimself created a monopoly. Thus at best, the Walker system leads toless than an optimum solution to the problems noted heretofore with thetraditional approach to marketing financial service products.

Consequently, a need still exists for new and improved systems whichfacilitate consummation of business transactions utilizing central andremote facilities or locations.

Objects of the Invention

An object of this invention is to provide a system and method forfacilitating transactions utilizing central and remote facilities orlocations which satisfies the aforementioned needs.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate transactions bycustomers at remote locations, for instance, car, truck, boat andmotorcycle dealerships, department stores, public locations such asshopping malls, auction houses, airports, grocery stores, and realestate offices.

Another object of the present invention is to further centralize andsimplify the responsibilities over these products.

A further object of the present invention is to shorten the timerequired to create and implement new products in the financial servicesarena and all others.

An additional object is to provide a wider variety of products to offercustomers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The system for marketing goods and services herein includes a customercomputerized communications facility, a central computerizedcommunications facility remote therefrom, and a data link between them.This invention is an improvement in that system which includes:

computer means at both the customer computerized communications facilityand the central computerized communications facility, adapted totransmit and receive images and data between them; means foradditionally establishing voice contact between the two communicationsfacilities; software stored at the central computerized communicationsfacility adapted to provide goods and services information; input meansat the customer computerized communications facility adapted to enable atype of customer who is uneasy using a computer to access that softwarein order to view a presentation adapted to educate the customer aboutthe goods and services; input means adapted to enable a type of customerenjoying computers to access the software in order to bypass thepresentation, and, in a self-service mode, to browse in the software toview desired information to learn about goods and services at hisdesired level of knowledge; means enabling both types of customers atany time they desire personal assistance to utilize the meansestablishing voice contact to talk to a representative at the centralcomputerized communications facility; application software located atthe central computerized communications facility enabling either type ofcustomer to download from the central facility to the customercomputerized communications facility information desired by thecustomer; and input means located at the customer computerizedcommunications facility enabling the customer to access applicationsoftware located at the central computerized communications facility.

Further, the information regarding the goods and services obtained bythe customer includes accompanying voice narration.

The input means at the customer computerized facility and theapplication software at the central computerized facility enablecustomers to search for goods according to model, manufacturer, andmarketer of the goods.

The input means at the customer computerized facility and theapplication software at the central computerized facility enablecustomers to search for a predetermined selection of goods.

The application software at the central computerized facility enablesthe customer to download instruments finalizing a transaction relativeto the goods and services.

The application software at the central computerized facility includes asubroutine for charging customers for their use of personal assistance.

The application software at the central computerized facility includes asubroutine for charging customers for each instance a customer is shownproduct information.

The application software at the central computerized facility includes asubroutine requiring customers to view a specified amount of productinformation in return for being granted a specified amount of use of thesystem.

The application software at the central computerized facility includes asubroutine providing the customer an electronic phone book containing adirectory of providers and goods available.

The application software at the central computerized facility includes asubroutine which builds a general customer profile based upon customer'srequests for information.

The application software at the central computerized facility includes asubroutine permitting a plurality of customers at different computerizedlocations to view simultaneously the same presentation and to speak toeach other during said presentation, the presentation being under thecontrol of one of the customers.

Means are provided for control of the system to alternate between theindividuals so that at times a first customer can control thepresentation while at another time a second or other customer can assumecontrol.

The central facility is a service company representing the provider ofthe goods or services.

A representative is located at the central computerized facility andthat representative is an agent for the provider of the goods andservices.

The customer computerized communications facility includes means forcommunicating with a number of different central computerizedcommunications facilities

The system wherein one facility is a retail sales store, and the otherfacility is a banking institution.

The system wherein one facility is an automobile company and the otherfacility is a bank.

The improved system of claim 16 wherein the central facilities areauction houses.

The system also includes means enabling a customer to speak with arepresentative at each facility.

The Invention

The prior art fails to recognize that some individuals love to usecomputers, while others are intimidated by them. This invention providesfor both types of customers.

Another problem is they failed to recognize that the public they weredealing with is a generation accustomed to television. Traditionalcomputer methods typically applied towards back office accountingfunctions by large computer organizations such as IBM, Univac, andHoneywell where users peered blurry eyed into cathode ray tubes are notcompelling when applied toward commerce. Customers were not accustomedto having to read large amounts of text and would not accept thatapproach. This failure on their part greatly explains their poor resultsand why the public refused to accept their antiquated methods. Tocorrect those earlier failures the present invention uses the computingdevices to transmit presentations of goods and services including text,graphics, voice, audio, music, images, and video.

The use of computerized voice is significant. The prior art is limitedgenerally to transmitting only text and perhaps a few graphics,requiring that the customer read a great amount of text to get theinformation they wanted. In contrast, the system of the presentinvention understands these preferences and has adjusted the systemaccordingly to accommodate the present generation.

A disadvantage of text is its limited ability to convey enthusiasm,emotion, and in general meaning. There is much contained in human speechin terms of inflection, tone, and volume which convey a significant partof the idea intended. Consider that a particular sentence can whenspoken one way be a compliment, yet when spoken with differentinflection it becomes an insult. As illustrated, text seldom conveysthese colorful aspects of speech and can never succinctly convey acomplex thought or idea entirely. Even worse results can be obtainedwhen translating from one language to another. Text only approximatesspeech. It does not replace it as the forerunners of these systemsassumed. For this reason this system's use of computerized voiceprovides surprising and superior results.

This invention provides a system where customers can shop for homes andobtain financing all in one place, computer stores, homes, factories,office buildings, and from all public and private locations from which aconsumer or customers want to obtain product information or perform atransaction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the case of auction houses a number of the remote locations can beconcurrently linked with one or more central facilities or auctionhouses so that groups of customers at each remote or local auctionfacility can participate in the actual auction at one or more distantcentral facilities or houses. In this fashion auction customersthroughout the world can participate at local auction houses in auctionstaking place throughout the world so that a customer in Saint Louis canparticipate and bid in an auction concurrently taking place in Hong Kongor France. In this particular embodiment each customer can be providedhis own personal input device permitting him to personally enter his bidduring the joint auction session and at the conclusion of a successfulbid remit his payment. He can as well be provided a separate monitor orcan share a large screen with some or all other attendees. Each customercan be provided a separate recording or printing device to provide thecustomer a record or receipt of any transaction he performs.

A number of terminals can be grouped to form an electronic shoppingstore permitting the customer to obtain desired information on theproducts of his choice while having access to highly knowledgeablerepresentatives and can also record, print or otherwise, selectedinformation for their later review. For this purpose the customer'smonitor can display a tool or icon they will use to control theinformation to be recorded. Remote facilities can even be portable sothat for example they can be used at trade shows such as car showspermitting attendees to obtain more specific information about theproducts they desire and to execute their purchase and obtain financing.The customer is to communicate with central facilities or locationscomprising banks, credit unions and finance companies, a service companyrepresenting such companies, manufacturer's offices, or in general anylocation from which a customer might wish assistance in facilitating atransaction. The method by which the transactions are facilitatedreduces the costs associated with creating, marketing, administering,and selling these products and services, thereby making them more costeffective and affordable.

By providing that the central facility can be a service company thepresent invention has departed from the previous art. Typically whenmarketing their products in a traditional approach a company will usethe assistance of a service company rather than directly sell or markettheir own products. The difficulty with the previous art is that theydid not allow for a complement to the traditional marketing approach. Inthe case of deploying these systems specific corporate capabilities willbe required. If companies have not felt comfortable in marketing theirown products using long established methods and channels, they mostcertainly will not feel comfortable in using this system on their own.It is anticipated that many will instead demand the assistance of athird party who is more acquainted with the technologies involved andhas developed expertise with them.

The foregoing objects are accomplished by a transaction system andmethod where having earlier established communication between the remoteand central locations the customer can use the electronic communicationsdevices and computing equipment at the remote location to contact afinancial services company or some other central facility to facilitatea transaction, such as negotiate the purchase, lease, and contracting offinancial services and/or other goods and services. In the preferredembodiment of the present invention a financial services company and itsagents who will now be responsible for selling these products to thecustomers are located centrally and all or substantially all activitiesof the financial services companies or central facility and its agentsare centralized in its state making those products subject at most tothe laws of that state or sovereign and thereby drastically reduce orsimplify regulatory constraints and streamline related compliance andbusiness costs such as by having only one computer system used tosupport the selling and administrative process thus eliminating the needto provide this support including applications software at eachdistributed remote location and in having to train only a singlecentrally located group of individuals who will act as the agents orrepresentatives.

Previously these financial services companies sold their productsthrough agents located at the site of the customer. The difficulty isthat many of the products required that the agents be licensed to sellcertain products such as investments and insurance. The difficulty withthis is that a significant amount of training and expense was requiredto place these agents out there. High turnover rate of employees at onelocation could pose a real problem. The process of getting an agentlicensed can itself take a year and each state regulated the licensingof agents within their state. In centralizing the agents we are able toreduce the licensing requirements since agents at the central locationcan service customers from multiple states so that an agent at a centrallocation say in Missouri could serve customers in theoretically all 50states. So rather than have 50 different agents each serve a customer ineach state we can have one agent serve all 50 customers thereby reducinglicensing bottlenecks and related expenses. The reduction in thoseexpenses can then help these firms better manage their business expensesand in turn pass these savings on to their customers.

Although in the preferred embodiment the customer speaks with only onerepresentative at a time it is further anticipated that the customer canspeak with multiple representatives from either the remote or centrallocations at the same time as in a team sales approach. As it isanticipated that customers will speak a variety of languages it will benecessary for presentations and representatives thus provided to bebased in the language of the customer; whether it be English, Spanish,French, German, Japanese, or any other desired language. This approachmight include utilization of personnel at the remote facility tocollectively assist the customer. Also in the preferred embodiment thefinancial services company or central facility will have no physicalpresence at the remote facility meaning they can not advertise in anyfashion such as on radio, television, or in magazines in the state ofthe remote facility or by placing or storing product information such assales materials or literature at the remote facility itself. This willrequire storing all product information at the central facility so thatall activities including product information about these goods andservices are then centralized at the central facility.

It should be understood however that certain information can be storedat remote facilities such as directories of facilities for dialingpurposes or a data base of providers of goods and services arranged bycategory of business or products offered such as in the Yellow Pagesphone directory. In that sense an electronic phone book can be stored atthe remote facility or instead upon pressing or utilizing the touchscreen, keyboard or input device the customer can activate the systemcausing it to retrieve from a central facility a directory of goods andservices available and thus permitting the customer to select anothercentral facility from a displayed list or catalogue and establishcontact with it and thus have access to numerous central facilities anda myriad of goods and services.

The present invention in utilizing an electronic version of a YellowPages has deviated from the prior art in modifying these types ofsystems to fit with existing shopping patterns of the public. Ratherthan requiring the public to change their method of shopping for goodsand services as the prior art requires, the present invention hasadapted to existing modes of shopping. The present invention hasanticipated that the public's learned behavior is difficult to break andso has provided that the customer can shop according to existingpatterns permitting them to shop by manufacturer, product, or marketeras one might if they were previously shopping for say a tire. In thatevent a customer can locate that specific tire either by its model name,its manufacturer, or the marketer through which he intends to purchaseit. This approach is akin to a customer shopping through the White orYellow Pages or by store or in a mall.

Additionally customers can just browse through a selection of goods andservices as though they were window shopping. To accomplish this thesystem can present a collection of products for those customers who donot have any specific need but are rather shopping as entertainment.This might include a group of unique products offered at special pricesor terms. These could include limited edition merchandise or closeouts.As demonstrated, rather than requiring the public to adapt itself to anew method as did the prior art, this system has adapted itself to thepublic and current shopping behaviors.

While in general all or substantially all application software will belocated at each central facility, such as programs which will prompt thecustomer for input, choices, or preferences so that the customer willcontact the central facility and then indicate his choices orpreferences; it can also be beneficial to download certain software fromthe central facility to the remote location to provide proper controland support for the customer such as by means of appropriatecommunications software or operating systems. This provides for thesimple updating of any needed communications or other remote locatedsoftware at the remote facility and ensure that each remote locationwill be compliant with future standards of communication and protocolbased upon changing needs and industry standards. Such downloadedsoftware can be stored temporarily at the remote facility to be usedonly in the current session or can be retained for all or selectedfuture sessions. It can also be beneficial to quickly download acatalogue of desired or requested information to permit the customer toreview leisurely while terminating the communication link to reduceconnect charges or free utilization of the central facility's resources.The customer can then reestablish contact with the previous or a newrepresentative and central facility when he is ready. To facilitate sucha technique the remote or central location can record the stopping pointof the customer's last on-line presentation so that when contact isresumed an appropriate presentation continuing point can be ascertained.

An alternative is to allow the customer to enter any phone number hemight wish to dial while accepting a credit card, debit card, or callingcard where the customer is to pay or be charged for any phone,connection, or use charges that will be incurred. In this fashion thecustomer is to be charged for the use of the equipment or transmittingand receiving means. The customer could be charged for any system use oronly for their use of an attendant at the central or remote locationsshould they need assistance. However, it can be necessary or beneficialto not charge new customers for use of live attendants for a selectperiod of time. Thereafter they will be treated as other customers.Otherwise, charging new customers for their use of attendants candiscourage them from attempting the system's use. Once we get themaccustomed to the system it will be easier to convince them to helpthemselves.

Alternatively, the customer could be charged for any use, but more whenthey need human assistance. The benefit of this approach is that inoffering live assistance customers are encouraged to use the system.This is sometimes necessary as not all customers will feel comfortablein using what they can perceive as a computer perhaps for fear offeeling or appearing inadequate. Having human assistance available willmake these customers feel more secure and therefore willing to try thesystem. Yet in charging customers for the use of human assistance theyare encouraged to help themselves thus permitting greater utilization ofthe representatives. This is perhaps an adaptation of animal or humanbehavior enticing the customer to first use the system and thereafterencourage them to help themselves.

As above, the system could thus provide a means to read credit cards andsuch as by card swipe reader or any other approximate equivalent meansand can as well be used to later tender payment for goods and servicespurchased. In this sense the system could be used as a sort of publictelephone to transmit and obtain information about any goods and/orservices the customer might desire from any central location anywhere inthe world.

A further variation in this theme is to instead charge the providers ofgoods for listing their products on the system. This could be in theform of a periodic flat fee or the providers could instead be chargedfor each incidence a customer requests their product information or isshown it involuntarily based on a customer's profile. Different ratescan apply depending on whether a customer requests the information or isshown it involuntarily. To improve the reaction of the customer to aninvoluntary commercial the system might instead at the predeterminedtime offer a choice of commercials to the customer prompting them tochoose which one they have most interest in and wish to see. One choicecould even be a random selection if the customer wishes to be surprised.

This response serves two purposes. The first is that in voluntarilychoosing which product the customer is to learn about, they are more aptto assume a positive attitude toward that product since they willinglychose it. Second, this selection by the customer could be used to buildor update their customer profile.

In a similar fashion as the customer's profile can be used to determinewhich products they will view in commercials, this profile can also beused to determine which version of a provider's commercial a customerwill see. It is a common practice in advertising to alter a commercialaccording to the demographics of the anticipated viewer. A commercialappearing on a country and western radio station will differ from thatappearing on a classical music station. Having a profile for each userwill permit advertisers to provide a message custom tailored to eachspecific customer profile.

To determine its corporate customer profile each provider of goods canuse the system. Profiles of those customers who specifically requestproduct information can be used by those providers to build generalprofiles of those customers who might have an interest or need in theirgoods. Thereafter those provider profiles can be used to help the systemguide commercials to system users most likely to be interested in thosegoods. Commercials can then be shown to customers intermittentlythroughout the customer's session or at predetermined points such aswhen the customer is waiting for live assistance or in between queries.

One approach is to require that each customer watch a specified numberof minutes of commercials for a given number of minutes of entertainmentprogramming.

Another approach to commercials is to credit a customer's account foreach minute of commercials or product information he views or accordingto the amount of goods they purchase. In return the customer could begranted so many minutes of entertainment programming. One approach tothis is similar to a traditional broadcast strategy where the customerpassively sits back and watches assorted programming. Yet at anytime thecustomer can use an input device to request information on sponsors'products. A list is then presented to the customer of the varioussponsors and the customer could then choose which ones he wants to see apresentation on.

Alternatively, a list of sponsors and their products could be collectedfrom each program watched so that after the program has completed thecustomer could then review the list of sponsors and choose whichcommercials they will view. The products and sponsors can be tied intothe programming but need not be related. The system could also build alist of chosen sponsors for each customer allowing them to at a laterdate go back and review the same or additional information on thoseproducts. As above a customer is only permitted so many minutes ofentertainment programming for each minute of commercials. The result isquite different from present day television as customers are required toactually participate in the selection of the commercials they are towatch and can immediately obtain more specific information on thoseproducts they choose. Having made the decision for themselves, it isexpected that customers will have more interest in the products ofsponsors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following detailed description, reference will be made to theattached drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an array of electronics communicationscomponents employed in a system and method for facilitating transactionsin accordance with the principles of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiment of a system 10 and method for facilitatingtransactions in accordance with the principles of the present inventionwill now be described in detail. The transactions facilitating system 10includes at least one central facility 12, such as a financial servicescompany, marketer, or manufacturer and at least one remote facility 14,such as a retail sales facility, or any other public or private locationfrom which a potential customer of the central facility 12 wantsassistance in facilitating a transaction. For instance, the remotefacility 14 can be retail sales facility, such as car, truck, boatand/or motorcycle dealerships. The central facility 12 can be afinancial services facility, such as a bank, credit union or a financecompany or any other central facility from which a customer wantsassistance in facilitating a transaction.

In the illustrated case of financial services, the system 10 facilitatesthe carrying out of activities such as financial business transactionsin accordance with the principles of the present invention by employingan array of means for transmitting and/or receiving informationcomprising visual, audio, and/or data between the financial servicesfacility or location 12 and a customer at one of the respective remotefacilities or locations 14. The financial services facility 12 offeringthe goods and/or services or assistance in facilitating such atransaction is established at a central location. Each retail sales orremote facility 14 is sited at a given remote location where potentialcustomers are located whether stationary or portable. In this respectthe system can be used to execute a transaction between the customer andthe central facility or it can only provide assistance to the customerin his selection of goods and services which a local or remote facilityare to thereafter provide.

At the remote retail sales facility 14 an area is established where anarray of electronic communications equipment is provided in accordancewith the present invention for transmitting and/or receiving informationcomprising visual, audio, and data about financial services or othergoods and services between the central financial services facility 12and the customer at the remote facility 14.

More particularly, as seen in FIG. 1, an exemplary remote facility 14has an array of electronic communications devices and computingequipment which includes a modem 16, a digital computer 18 or othermeans for processing information, instructions or data, a speaker phone20 or other means for exchange of audio transmission, a monitor 22 orother means of conveying images, a printer 24 or other means forrecording signals or information conveyed from the company 12, and akeyboard or input device 26. It is anticipated that a handset ratherthan a speaker phone or external speaker can be used in instances wherea customer wishes to speak privately with a representative.

For an application of this system in homes the input device could be atelevision remote control device perhaps with alterations comprisingcursor movement keys, a joystick, or a microphone for voice input. Inrecording this product information the customer can then save or takethe desired information with him for his later review which mightcomprise instructions for use, operation, or assembly and can include alist of suggested products or services as advised by the liverepresentative or by the central facility computer. Such informationmight be recorded on paper, magnetically such as upon a cassette, videotape, computer disc, CD, or a chip embedded or smart card, or by someother means. Comparably the central facility can record the transactionfor later retrieval so the customer can continue where he left off at alater date should his interest renew or for identification purposes orfor possible assistance in resolving disputes. Other means to verifyidentification of the customer can be used comprising magneticallyencoded badges or cards, or the use of eye or finger scanning devices.Additionally, a mail bag 28 or other means for remitting payment ordocuments is provided at the remote facility 14.

FIG. 1 further shows an exemplary central communications facility 12including computer 32 having monitor 36, keyboard/input means 38 as wellas Goods and Services Databases and Application Software. As discussedin greater detail herein, a Goods and Services Database includesinformation of competing goods and services and/or providers of goodsand services which may be of interest to the customer at the remotefacility. The exemplary central communications facility 12 of FIG. 1 isfurther shown to have a modem 30 and a phone 34 or other means forexchange of audio transmission. For communicating with the customer atthe remote retail sales facility 14, a complementary array of electroniccommunications devices and computing equipment is located at thefinancial services facility 12 or central location. As seen in FIG. 1,this equipment includes a modem 30, a digital computer 32 or other meansfor processing information, instructions or data, a phone 34 or othermeans for voice exchange or audio transmission, a monitor 36 and akeyboard or other input device. Only a complementary printer is notneeded at the financial services facility 12 for the purpose offacilitating transactions in accordance with the present invention.Preferably, two separate phone lines 40, 42 are available tointerconnect the respective phones 20, 34 of the facilities 14, 12simultaneously with, but separately from, the interconnection of therespective modems 16, 30 of the facilities 14, 12 so that voice oraudio, visual, and data communication can be ongoing concurrentlybetween the customer at the remote facility 14 and an agent at thefinancial services facility 12. Alternatively such contact can beestablished by coaxial cable such as through a cable company or someother means of establishing contact or by means of some wirelesstechnology such as radio. Each of these components of the respectiveelectronics communications equipment at the respective facilities 12, 14is per se a conventional off the shelf item and thus it is not necessaryto describe such components in any further detail.

Referring again to FIG. 1, it should be noted that the centralcommunications facility 12 shown in the enlarged view is an exemplaryembodiment of a central communications facility. Additional centralcommunications facilities 12(#2) through 12(#n) are illustrated inFIG. 1. Each of central facility 12(#2) through 12(#n) can includesubstantially the same features as shown in the enlarged view forcentral communications facility 12, including the functionality forcommunicating audio, visual and data communications over telephone linesor, alternatively, by cable or wireless technology. FIG. 1 alsoillustrates that central communications facilities 12(#2) through 12(#n)are linked to each other and to remote facility 14, using thecommunications functionality described above. Such links may beestablished through telephone or other communications networks.

One embodiment could use a combination of wired and wirelesstechnologies. In this instance the information being transmitted to thecustomer could be on a wireless basis whereas the signals transmitted tothe central facility could be on a wired basis. The advantage of thisapproach is that standard telephone lines can be insufficient attransmitting extensive amounts of video and audio information. However,the bulk of this type of transmitting will in certain cases be goingfrom the central facility to the customer. But in many instances thedemand for transmitting from the customer to the central will besignificantly less and will in most cases be adequately handled bynormal telephone lines. This approach can then reduce the expense ofdeploying these systems by reducing or eliminating the need to install amore advanced wired communications network.

At the remote facility 14, the customer of the retail sales facility 14and/or of the financial services facility 12, is escorted to the areawhere the above-described array of electronics communications equipmentof the retail sales facility 14 is provided. The customer presses anauto dial button 44 on the speaker phone 20 or uses his input devicesuch as a touch screen to select a central facility to contact from alist displayed on his monitor and in doing so establishes contact withthe financial services company 12 and perhaps its agent by way of somemeans of transmitting data, audio, and/or visual information comprisingtelephone or videophone thus permitting the simultaneous or concurrenttransmitting of audio, video, and data as the customer andrepresentative speak with one another or establish voice contact andwhile the representative provides the customer with information aboutgoods and/or services. At that time the customer can automaticallyreview established presentations to better prepare him for a sessionwith a representative and to educate the customer on the goods andservices he is about to consider or at the customer's wish he can bypassthese introductory presentations and immediately direct the session orrequest personal assistance from a representative.

As an alternative the customer can establish contact with the centralfacility's equipment without the assistance of a representative andmerely help himself in a self-service mode where he can browse throughdatabases of goods and services. The speaker phone 20 as contemplatedherein is intended to encompass other comparable devices, such as avideophone or the like, where in addition to 2-way verbal contact thecustomer can establish 2-way or 1-way visual contact with the agent.Concurrently or subsequently the remote terminal can transmit its phonenumber, serial number, or identification code to the central facility soas to identify itself and thus satisfy any future administrative needsof the central facility should for example a break in communicationsoccur and the need arise to reestablish contact with the specific remotefacility and its customer. In this respect it will be necessary for eachremote location to store this serial, phone, or station identificationnumber for future transmittal.

While in the preferred embodiment the customer at the remote facilityinitiates contact with the central facility it is contemplated that thecentral facility or its representative can have occasion to initiatecontact with a given remote facility. An example is a public or privatelocation where the central system contacts the remote facility toapprise potential customers of goods and services offered. In a publiclocation such as at a mall a remote terminal can perform for customerswho pass and prompt them to press the screen to obtain specificinformation.

To facilitate reconnection should an accidental break occur in theconnection between remote and central facilities, upon each breakinitiated by a customer a control signal will be transmitted to thecentral location. Otherwise should any break occur without the centrallocation having just prior received this code the central facility willknow to reestablish contact. If the code is received just before thebreak there will be no need to reconnect as the customer terminatedcontact. Another approach is to store the presentation stopping point atthe customer location so that if accidental break occurs the remotesystem can reinitiate contact if the customer wishes.

Having established contact the customer and agent then speak with oneanother by way of the phones 20, 34 of the respective facilities 14, 12.Concurrently, the agent by using his or her digital computer 32, monitor36, keyboard 38 or other input device and modem 30 establisheselectronic contact with the customer's modem 16, digital computer 18,monitor 22 and printer 24 if such contact has not already beenestablished by the customer by means of a single telephone orcommunications line, or wireless means to transmit and provide helpfulaudio, video, and data information to the customer about the transactionbeing proposed for the customer by the financial services facility 12.Such information can take the form of charts and the like displayed onthe monitor 22 or printed on a sheet of paper by the printer 24. It cancomprise audio and visual information related to those goods andservices of interest to the customer and can contain any desired salesor product information such as product specifications, service data,published articles, product demonstrations, orchestrated presentations,sales literature such as you might find in a brochure or catalogue,possible uses, compatibility, styles, selection, availability,comparisons to other products or services, published articles onproducts or services; product features, compatibility, or requirements.

In the case of financial instruments or investments, information mightcomprise expected profit or margins, past performance of like products,maturity dates, terms, conditions, exclusions, limitations, andexceptions. In the case of automobiles or other durable goodsinformation might comprise models, styles, expected life, efficiencies,colors, capacities, maintenance requirements, options, comparisonsbetween models, published articles on products or excerpts of, picturesof products (still and full motion of product as in its various uses),testimonials of products, commercials, or infomercials. Information forhome users when purchasing or renting movies, music, or other forms ofentertainment might comprise: ratings, titles, product descriptions,artists or actors, articles written by critics or excerpts of, shortsegments of music or movie (samples or previews), lists of productsavailable and in general any audio or visual information a customermight wish to know including quote, price, or any information aboutgoods or services other than quote, binder, or price.

As an assistance to any attendant or representative at the centralfacility that same or related product information can be displayed onthe representative's monitor at the central facility to aid in hisassisting the customer.

The digital computer 18 stores suitable well-known off-the-shelfoperations, communications and perhaps graphics software programs in itsmemory and is operational to translate the signals, electronic orotherwise, caused to be transmitted from the financial services facility12 into such displayed, audio reproduced, recorded, or printedinformation. An example of a suitable communications program is onecommercially available under the trademark Carbon Copy thus permittingor enabling the representative to control the equipment at the remotefacility and permitting the customer to retrieve and access informationabout goods and services stored at the central facility. An example of asuitable graphics program is one commercially available under thetrademark Harvard Graphics which can be used to reconstruct digitallytransmitted information back into visual images.

Thus, the agent residing at the central financial services company 12has the ability to control the above-described electronic communicationsequipment in the presence of the customer located at the remote facility14. The agent is thereby able for example to display any desiredinformation at will on the customer's monitor 22 or to print anyinformation at will on the customer's printer 24. The customer canrespond verbally to central facility prompts initiated by therepresentative or the central facility equipment via the speaker phone20 or by using his or her keyboard 26 or other input device or someother means to convey customer supplied information. Such an inputdevice is anticipated to comprise a touch screen permitting the customerto press a screen displayed icon to supply his choices or input, andvoice activated response or voice recognition input permitting him tospeak his responses, selections, or data input. Personal data to besupplied by the customer can be voice input or supplied by otherappropriate means comprising retrieved from a personal data cardsupplied by the customer by means of a magnetic reader or othercomparable device capable of retrieving information thus stored and thesystem can then permit the customer to update or correct any informationprovided. The system can also utilize voice synthesis to prompt orpresent options to the customer and can be used in tandem with visualprompts.

In this fashion the customer can at his leisure and without theassistance of the representative review any desired information aboutthose goods and services he is most interested in with complete privacyyet can by way of his input device request a representative at his willshould he desire personal service. He or she can then serve himselfshould he wish or if preferred he can sit back and let therepresentative fully control the presentation. The transmittedpresentation can utilize a well known spokesperson and give theappearance of a commercial or infomercial. On his own the customer canback up, fast forward, skip, or jump to the specific product informationhe wishes at his command. His access to this information is described inthe computer industry as random. Information can be provided at variouslevels of detail through a technique known as hypertext. The customercan thus review a summary of specific information and at his request orcommand receive a level of information of greater detail. One suchmethod of accomplishing the summoning of the representative is toprovide an icon or tool on the customer's monitor which he can press orselect at any time which in turn causes the system to summon or ring acentrally or alternatively remotely located representative to personallyassist the customer.

Additionally a security feature could be installed to protect customersor the remote system from vandalism. Here the user is required topresent his credit card or other ID to obtain entry into a lockedfacility containing the terminal.

Another approach to guard against vandalism is to have a live attendantgreet on screen each customer as they approach the system.Alternatively, a camera could be placed on each system to monitor thecustomer's use and a notice could be posted about the use of the camerato protect the customer's availability to the system. An alarm can alsobe used that is activated automatically under certain conditions ormanually by the rep at the central facility.

In providing the customer an input means we have permitted greaterutilization of the representative's time and allowed the customer toonly be assisted as he wishes. However it is beneficial to monitor thecustomer's activity to signal when an appropriate time might be for therepresentative to voluntarily offer assistance should the customerbecome confused or lost. An application of a computer technique referredto as artificial intelligence will help identify the occurrence. Such asituation is indicated by a customer's repeated review of the sameinformation or lack of command to the system within a given period oftime.

When appropriate the agent can then command the customer's printer 24 tocreate or print needed contracts and documents (comprising loanapplication papers, a notice of proposed insurance, an insurance binder,an insurance application, receipts, etc.). The agent can also displayhis or her own image in a corner of the customer's monitor 22 as acourtesy by using an appropriate communications program and a graphicsfile produced from the agent's photograph with a conventional imagescanner.

In combination with the application for a loan or the presentment of acredit card or some other payment instrument the central facilityperhaps under the direction of the representative or under control ofthe central facility's application software can initiate a credit checkto determine the customer's credit worthiness or qualify the customer soas to approve the intended purchase. The central facility can itselfstore credit or check approval information for each prospective customeror can communicate with a third party such as TRW and exchangeappropriate and necessary information on the customer while the customerwaits at the remote facility to obtain the necessary credit history inorder to process and approve the customer's request. Should the resultof the check be negative, the representative can converse with thecustomer to perhaps arrange for alternate means of payment. Havingqualified the customer the central facility can in the event of a loanrequest conduct the necessary risk evaluation, manually orelectronically by means of algorithms to determine loan approval. Asimilar approach can be taken for insurance requests. The customer canrespond to questions regarding his medical history and based upon asearch of medical history either at the central facility or at a thirdparty such as the Medical Information Bureau determine the insurabilityof the customer and insurance approval.

While in the preferred embodiment the final approval for loan orinsurance is made upon the customer remitting completed forms eitherelectronically or by mail or some other means it should be understoodthat having performed the necessary medical or credit check the centralfacility can immediately approve the customer's application or requestfor insurance or credit and commit itself. During the solicitationprocess the central facility can record and store the presentation forbeneficial purposes such as to meet regulatory requirements for proof ofdisclosure as when selling insurance, loans, or investment instrumentscomprising stocks, bonds, annuities, and mutual funds.

Once the contracts are printed out the customer is directed to sign themand personally place them and any required payment (check) in a mail bag28 located at the retail sales facility 14. A binder can be issued uponthe customer signing applications for financial services and mailingthem so he can take possession of any purchased goods or merchandise incontemplation of the financial services companies accepting theapplications and performing final execution of the contracts in the homesovereign.

In the application of entertainment the possession can include thepresentment of recorded performances or programming to the customer suchas can be transmitted or in some otherwise fashion conveyed to thecustomer.

Alternatively, some other means of remitting payment and any completedcontracts to the agent can be used such as electronically where thecustomer can for example endorse an electronic signature box displayedon his monitor by means of an electronic pen or other comparable deviceand subsequently transmit by modem the electronic contracts back to thecentral facility or by some other electronic means to permit thecustomer to legally apply for contracts perhaps comprising the faxing ortransmitting of a signed contract from the remote to the centralfacility.

At the end of a session the system can prompt the customer for commentsor take a poll. The customer can respond with his input device. Thesystem can also encourage the customer to speak into a microphone torecord the customer's comments on products, assistance provided by alive rep, or the system itself. The advantage in recording thecustomer's verbal response is that the easier it is for customers torespond the more likely they will. Also, open-ended questions that canbe very revealing are difficult to obtain if the customer is required tohand write or type comments. Recording the response will make the bestuse of the customer's time and improve the success of obtaining thisinformation. As a mechanism for requesting this information the systemcould list an OFF button. Once a customer has selected OFF the systemcan begin to execute a closing procedure which could include a customerquestionnaire.

At some point during the customer's session the system can prompt themfor their address so as to forward additional or updated productinformation to them perhaps regarding future special offers. Thisapproach introduces a whole new method to sales promotions.

In one embodiment, once a customer has selected and paid for theirpurchase those products that can not be delivered on the spot (such asvia a remote printer or other device permitting the culmination of atransaction) can be delivered to the customer such as at their residenceor place of business. Alternatively, customers can pick up theirpurchases at a central order processing center.

Another embodiment provides for team shopping permitting a groupcustomers at the same or different locations to view the samepresentation simultaneously under the control of one of the customers asthey speak with each other. In this instance a customer at the same ordifferent remote location will assume control of the input device forone or more different customers. Control of the system can alternatebetween the individuals so that at times a first customer can controlthe presentation while at another time a second or other customer canassume control. The selected information will be presented to eachshopper in the party though they can be at different customer locations.In this way each person in the group can share with the others productsthey find interesting. At the same time they can all engage in a groupconversation or perhaps video conference so each can hear the other asthey review the presentations together.

The advantage of this approach is that historically electronic systemshave failed to captivate certain segments of the population such asfemales. Part of the problem is that the act of using such a system hasto this point been a solitary activity. While some customers can becontent using the system by themselves, others are more group orientedand prefer social contact. For example, while some people (perhaps men)will be more inclined to visit a store or go shopping by themselves,others (perhaps women) are more likely to be accompanied by a friend.This embodiment of the system then recognizes these differences betweencustomers and allows those who are more group oriented to use the systemin a way they are comfortable with.

Another use of the system is to create electronic cities. Here thesystem creates a tour to guide electronic tourists through a selectedcity showing important points of interest as presented by an electronicversion of a tour guide with verbal narration. Customers are allowed tobrowse and shop on their own at anytime. Using the system in this waycustomers are able to electronically sightsee and shop at a selection ofcities within their country and internationally. The ability to tie inthe flavor and charm of a city or country with its products shouldgreatly encourage customers to shop and make the customer's experiencefascinating. Cities and countries could introduce themselves in apositive way and encourage tourism. The system's use in this fashionallows it to disseminate knowledge of a region and its people to othershelping to improve relations between cities and countries.

Another version of the invention utilizes a full blown video conferencecenter providing a large screen, perhaps wall sized, 2 way color videoand audio device in addition to a remote printer used to generate orprint documents for the prospective customer. In this fashion thecustomer is placed in a theater like environment so he can comfortablyview any desired product information by means of full motion, fullcolor, audio/visual presentations. Images can be displayed by hologramsor similar 3 dimensional means to give life and form to goods orservices sold.

Alternatively the video can be 1 way or nonreciprocal versus 2 way orreciprocal should the customer prefer to not be on camera. It can aswell be monochrome as opposed to color where preferable such as whencommunication resources are not available to achieve full color video.To put the customer at ease at the start of each session the customer'smonitor can display his own image permitting him to make any groomingadjustments he wishes and in doing so better put his mind at rest.

In addition to accepting a credit card or similar means as payment forsystem use, the system could accept cash or any other payment means.

Although the system 10 has been described with reference to financialservices, the concept of the present invention is not so limited. It canbe used to sell or assist in selling all goods and services comprisingcars, boats, motorcycles, vacations, travel packages, investments,furniture, real estate, service contracts, product warranties,entertainment, financial services, and all other goods or services acustomer might desire to remote customers whether or not financed orinsured such as at a consumer goods store where customers use the systemto select and transact their purchase.

In this sense the system serves as an expert system allowing thecustomer to obtain knowledgeable assistance from a central facility andits salesperson or representative. This is especially beneficial forcustomers of retail stores which sell large ticket items or complicatedproducts which require or benefit from highly or moderately skilledsales people. This responds to a common complaint that few stores haveknowledgeable staff. The customer can then select and pay for hispurchase at the terminal and take possession of his goods upon leaving.In using the equipment in this fashion the provider of the equipment cancharge the customer a fee for use of the system and its services forwhich it can then provide the customer with a printed coupon, rebate orvoucher for free goods or services, or an equivalent or partial discountshould the customer purchase his goods or services at that remotelocation during an unlimited or limited future period of time.

Such a system is be of great benefit to an employment agency or headhunter who might then record interviews with a selection of employeecandidates for presentation purposes permitting prospective employers tobrowse the catalogue of candidates in quickly narrowing and finalizingtheir recruiting search.

It can now be readily seen that the system 10 of the present inventionaccomplishes its first object identified above by centralizing theadministration and selling of products and thereby substantially reducesthe costs associated with creating, marketing, and administering theseproducts and services. The system 10 also accomplishes its second objectidentified above by consolidating all management activities of thefinancial services products with the central office. The primary or onlytask of the retail sales location in the preferred embodiment is torefer the customer to the equipment at the remote location. Hence, allpossible responsibilities are centralized permitting better control andsimplifying ongoing management. With the great reduction in costsassociated with developing and administering new products it is nowpossible, that is affordable, to develop a greater variety of productswhich are then more likely to fit the needs of specific customers. Thethird object is achieved as new product supporting materials, such ascomputer programs and other sales materials, are now centralized and itis no longer necessary to train an army of outside staff to sell andsupport the new products, giving the financial services company or otherprovider of goods and services more control as well on the salesprocess.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the inventionhas been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. Itis not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to theprecise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possiblein light of the above teaching. Such modifications and variations aredeemed to be within the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for providing marketing and/or salesinformation relating to goods and/or services comprising: a computerizedcentral communications facility; a database of marketing and/or salesinformation relating to goods and/or services at said computerizedcentral communications facility, and; a communications device at saidcomputerized central communications facility; wherein said computerizedcentral communications facility is operable to be linked to a pluralityof other computerized central communications facilities and to aplurality of computerized remote communications facilities; wherein saiddatabase of marketing and/or sales information relating to goods and/orservices is accessible to a customer at one or more of said computerizedremote communications facilities; wherein said communications device atsaid computerized central communications facility is operable totransmit at least a portion of said marketing and/or sales informationrelating to said goods and/or services to at least one of saidcomputerized remote communications facilities; wherein said computerizedcentral communications facility is operable to provide at least aportion of said marketing and/or sales information relating to saidgoods and/or services to one or more of said computerized remotecommunications facilities upon request; wherein at least one of saidother computerized central communications facilities enables saidcustomer at one or more of said computerized remote communicationsfacilities to select and contact a computerized central communicationsfacility of a different provider, and; wherein said computerized centralcommunications facility of a different provider is equipped with: adatabase of marketing and/or sales information relating to goods and/orservices accessible to said customer at one or more of said computerizedremote communications facilities, and; a communications device adaptedto transmit at least a portion of said marketing and/or salesinformation relating to said goods and/or services to at least one ofsaid computerized remote communications facilities, whereby saidcustomer has access to information at multiple computerized centralcommunications facilities of different providers.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1 adapted to display said goods and/or services informationinvoluntarily based on said customer's use of said apparatus.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1 adapted to build a provider or corporate profilebased on said customer's use of said apparatus.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 1 adapted to build a profile from a single customer's use.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1 adapted to build a profile from multiple customers'use.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 adapted to suggest goods and/orservices based on at least one of said customers use of said apparatus.7. The apparatus of claim 1 adapted to suggest goods and/or services tosaid customers.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein a customer at one ormore of said computerized remote communications facilities can access orbrowse said database of marketing and/or sales information relating togoods and/or services at said computerized central communicationsfacility and at one or more of said other computerized centralcommunications facilities.
 9. An apparatus for providing marketingand/or sales information relating to goods and/or services comprising: acomputerized central communications facility; a database of marketingand/or sales information relating to goods and/or services at saidcomputerized central communications facility, and; a communicationsdevice at said computerized central communications facility; whereinsaid computerized central communications facility is operable to belinked to a plurality of other computerized central communicationsfacilities and to a plurality of computerized remote communicationsfacilities; wherein said database of marketing and/or sales informationrelating to goods and/or services is accessible to customers at one ormore of said computerized remote communications facilities; wherein saidcommunications device at said computerized central communicationsfacility is operable to transmit at least a portion of said marketingand/or sales information relating to said goods and/or services to saidcomputerized remote communications facilities; wherein said computerizedcentral communications facility is operable to provide at least aportion of said marketing and/or sales information relating to saidgoods and/or services to customers at one or more of said computerizedremote communications facilities upon request; wherein at least one ofsaid other computerized central communications facilities allowscustomers at one or more of said computerized remote communicationsfacilities to select and contact a computerized central communicationsfacility of a different provider, and; wherein said apparatus isoperable to record a presentation stopping point for future use.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 9 wherein at least one of said other computerizedcentral communications facilities is operable to transmit at least aportion of said marketing and/or sales information relating to saidgoods and/or services to at least one of said computerized remotecommunications facilities.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein at leastone of said computerized central communications facilities is adapted todisplay goods and/or services involuntarily.
 12. The apparatus of claim9 wherein one or more of said computerized remote communicationsfacilities is operable to access or browse said database of marketingand/or sales information relating to goods and/or services at saidcomputerized central communications facility and at one or more of saidother computerized central communications facilities.
 13. A method forelectronically selling and/or marketing goods and/or services between acustomer at one or more remote locations and a plurality of providers ofgoods and/or services comprising: providing a first database associatedwith a first provider of goods and/or services and containinginformation relating to goods and/or services, which can be accessed bya customer at one or more of said remote locations from at least oneother database associated with another provider of goods and/or servicescontaining information relating to goods and/or services, enabling saidcustomer to access said first and at least one of said other databasesof another provider for information relating to goods and/or services.14. The method of claim 13 wherein said customer can submit a bid in anauction with one of said providers.
 15. The method of claim 13 wherein apresentation stopping point can be recorded.
 16. The method of claim 13wherein said customer can use said information to select and contactanother of said providers.